Bean's List - Week 3

Moving up this week's Bean's List for some Monday Morning Reading. This week we cover some key headlines from the sports world, newly released TV and movies (w/o spoilers), and some music recommendations.

Tires S2 - Gillis and Gerben are Stars

TV - Comedy

The 2nd Season of Tires dropped on Netflix this past week. Originally Conceived as a YouTube short, the trio of Shane Gillis, Steve Gerben, and John McKeever have turned it into a full-blown Netflix series -- bumped up to 12-episodes for S2 after a 6-episode debut season last year.

I liked Season 1 a ton, but you could tell they were sort of getting their feet wet, testing the waters of what the show could be. Season 2 feels like a much more fully-developed, thought-out story -- as well as taking the comedy of the show up several levels.

Gerben and Gillis' chemistry is what made Season 1 work, and it's the heartbeat of S2 as well. But where the show really levels up in S2 is the supporting cast around them, bringing in A-listers and smaller comedians alike for side roles and stories. Stavros Halkias, Chris O'Connor, and Kilah Fox are all back -- but the main newcomer is Thomas Haden Church playing Shane's Dad. Plus cameos/side roles from the likes of Vince Vaughn, Jon Lovitz, Ron White, Jay Oakerson, Matt McCusker, Francis Ellis, H. Foley, and so many more.

Some of the funniest sequences I've seen on a TV show in years, a hilarious and lovable cast, an actual storyline that stays consistent throughout the season, and a perfect follow-up and expansion of what worked in their 1st season. This is a show that could run for 15 seasons and just get better every single year. Gerben and McKeever are budding stars in the comedy world alongside Gillis, who's already reaching Star status.

And depending how many readers out there have watched/get caught up this week, we may have to breakdown some of the best moments in a future blog. The HR Scene is living rent-free in my head.

Bean's Score: 8.7/10

Instant Classic at the French Open

Sports - Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner squared off in one of the best Tennis Open Finals you'll ever see -- probably the best since Djokavic/Nadal at the 2012 Australian Open. Sinner won the first 2 sets 6-4/7-6, but the young superstar Alcaraz battled his way through multiple tiebreaks to win the final 3 sets 6-4/7-6/7-6 to claim the title. Outrageous shot-making, incredible saves, and epic rallies for about 5 and a half hours -- resilient and clutch performance from the 22-year-old Alcaraz.

Bean's Score - 9.9/10

NBA, NHL Finals

Sports

Unfortunately for blogging purposes, I missed basically the entire NBA Finals Game 1 that saw the Pacers once again storm back from big deficit and deliver one of the most shocking, clutch wins you'll see in the NBA playoffs. But this is becoming the norm for the Pacers, who have now strung together 4 of these stunning wins in each series they've played, and have put themselves in the driver's seat of the series if they can defend their home court.

Game 2 Sunday night is much more interesting after Indy stole game 1 -- but I still expect the Thunder to handle business tonight before going back to Indiana for Game 3. (writing this Sunday afternoon).

Bean's Score: 8.8/10

The Stanley Cup Finals are off to a fucking electric start. The Oilers come from behind to steal Game 1 in Overtime, and the Panthers bounce back in Game 2 with a 5-4 win. These teams are absolutely peppering the nets offensively, which is a viewer's delight as we're seeing plenty of goals and tons of action. Game 3 in Florida on Monday Night is going to be a massive one for both sides -- comment below who you think will take a 2-1 Lead into Game 4. I'm rolling with the Oilers.

Bean's Score: 9.2/10

Bean's Bops

Music

Went to a Cole Swindell Concert on Thursday night (which was awesome) so figured I'd start with a few recommendations of his songs, and a few others I've been hyper-fixated on recently (sorry hip-hop/rap fans, mostly country this week):

• Let Me See Ya Girl

• Middle of a Memory

• Ain't Worth the Whiskey

• Single Saturday Night

• Dirty Dancing (from his new album coming out in a couple weeks - Spanish Moss)

Non-Swindell Recs:

• After All the Bars are Closed -- Thomas Rhett

• Blink Twice -- Shaboozey, Myles Smith

• Bar None -- Jordan Davis

• Nothing from Nothing -- Billy Preston (old ass song but great vibes)

• Rocky Road to Dublin (Sinners movie playlist, Irish jig if you're into that)

Airplane Movie Corner

Movies

I'm a nervous flyer, and I've found the best medicine for Flight Anxiety is downloading movies, shows, or podcasts to black out for a couple hours until we land. And when your one flight is stuck on the runway for 2 1/2 hours for a tornado, you can sneak in a pair of 2025 releases, that surprisingly have some common themes despite being vastly different films. No spoilers below.

Mountainhead - HBO Max

Jesse Armstrong and his brilliant team of producers/writers/directors created one of the best shows of the 21st Century when they released Succession on HBO Max. After it's conclusion in 2023 -- he's back almost exactly 2 years later with his highly-anticipated follow-up project, Mountainhead.

The film follows 4 friends who happen to be some of the wealthiest people on Earth played by Steve Carrell (Randall), Jason Schwartzman (Souper), Ramy Youssef (Jeff), and Cory Michael Smith (Venis) who played Chevy Chase in the SNL movie last year Saturday Night. They meet up at Souper's Mountain Mansion to catch-up like old pals -- but mostly to talk business, as each is facing their own problems as the world spins into chaos around them.

Black Comedy and Satire are the 2 descriptors I'd go with -- emphasis on the Comedy because I thought it was hysterical. Carrell is at his best in this genre, Youssef I thought was the biggest standout, and Michael Smith is only going to get bigger and bigger -- has huge star quality. Schwartzman is the perfect glue guy, both in real life and his character in the film, and he's always terrific in these roles.

Thinly-veiled parallels drawn to Elon Musk/Jeff Bezos types of real world people, and presented in the most deplorable way possible. It also looks and feels so much like Succession from the rapid-fire-dialogue, shaky-cam shooting, and the hysterical situations/conversations that unfold. I didn't understand 90% of what they're actually talking about, but I often felt that way in Succession, so it wasn't a problem for me. The final hour or so is wild, hilarious, outlandish, and satirical in the best ways.

Not my favorite movie of the year, but far from the worst, and one I can see myself rewatching dozens of times on Max for that Succession-nostalgia, the beautiful scenery (setting is in Utah and it's gorgeous), and the laugh-out-loud line deliveries -- even if I think the plot is about as developed as a pre-growth-spurt tween.

Bean's Movie Score: 74/100

Mickey 17 - HBO Max

One of my most highly-anticipated films of 2025 when I first heard about it. Bong Joon Ho's first movie since Parasite -- one of the best movies in the last decade and best foreign-language film I've ever seen. Robert Pattinson in a starring role, and adapted from a well-respected novel Mickey 7 from Edward Ashton.

The general premise -- Pattinson plays Mickey, a down-on-his-luck guy applying for a job on a human expedition to colonize a new world called Niflheim. He gets the job of an "expendable" -- a guy they send in for dangerous missions, testing vaccines, and any other task that could result in death. Because if he dies -- they print out another version of him, uploaded with his memories, that pops out the next day ready for a new mission.

Pattinson stars as Mickey, but the supporting cast includes Mark Ruffalo (playing a Trump-esque failed politician spearheading the voyage), Toni Collette (his Melania-Hillary-Hybrid Wife), Steven Yeun (an under-utilized side role), and Naomi Ackie (Mickey's love interest).

Overall, I think it was a relatively-entertaining hang. I think Pattinson is at the peak of his powers in the role, getting to play different versions of himself and showcase some Three-Stooges-Level physical comedic acting in the process. He's in every beat of the movie, and his total inclusion is the most successful aspect to me. There's plenty of funny moments throughout as well.

In my opinion, the supporting cast is not strong. Very one-dimensional and played out, and the satire didn't land as well as Mountainhead for me. Also think there are some tonal issues where the movie is trying to be an outright comedy in one moment, then a serious political/cultural commentary in the next. Certain characters were underutilized, and there were many plot points that weren't wrapped up at all by the end.

An incredibly original film that has a few too many inconsistencies and tonal issues for me -- but one I think the average movie fan would really enjoy.

Bean's Movie Score: 65/100

And that's all for this week folks, see you later in the week for another installment of Power Rankings Thursday, and well as Tom's Two Cents, and hopefully another blog or two to be defined later.

Thanks for reading -- and if you enjoyed yourself, check out some of our other blogs below!